Splash Skotnicki

With great sadness, but because of our love for Splash, our Great Dane, we helped him over the Rainbow Bridge on Monday, August 7, 2017. While we do not know his day of birth or the all the events of his early life, it is believed Splash was born in 2007. We know that in September 2009, Splash was turned into the Greater Birmingham Humane Society by his owners with another dog described as a Lab-mix. We had sent a letter to GBHS looking for a young, large-breed dog with a good temperament that might be able to be trained as a balance-assistance service dog for Janet and were contacted about Splash. We were told that when he was turned in that he was heartworm positive, weighed only 90 pounds (instead of the 120 he would later weigh), and that he was so dirty they could not tell he was spotted until he was given a bath. We'd later learn that he had several BB's under his skin, suggesting someone had used him one time for target practice. Splash was treated for heartworms out of the generosity of GBHS. After his treatment we were able to adopt him and we brought him home on October 27, 2009. Splash fit in well with our two Miniature Schnauzers, Jacob and Annabelle (who would later pass in 2013, and 2015). In the fall of 2009, we worked with Kevin McDonald of McDonald K-9 Academy to teach Splash the tasks of being a balance-assistance service dog, and in January 2010, Splash and Janet passed the test to be a service dog team. Splash then went to work with Janet at UAB Hospital in the Interventional Cardiology Office until her job was eliminated later that year. In July 2010, Splash and Janet appeared in an article about their story published in B-metro magazine. Also in 2010, Splash attended the awards ceremony of the GBHS Auxiliary at The Club, and was the winner of the Olivia Bearden Award for Service of an Animal to a Person. Splash spent many healthy and happy years as a loving companion to both Michael and Janet and as a service dog to Janet, meeting and befriending people all over the Birmingham area. Janet took Splash on occasion to various elementary schools to teach children how to act around a service dog. Splash loved the occasions when he was able to work as a service dog and would get excited to have his balance-assistance harness placed on him and buckled up. He loved the car ride and the excitement of going somewhere with Janet. He loved being with her and when at home, followed Janet from room to room, laying only where he could have her in his sight at all times. We had provided him a better life and he was as loyal and dedicated as any dog could ever be. Splash was a very handsome Great Dane, with a unique harlequin pattern that made him look a bit like a Dalmatian. As a result, almost every time Janet used him as a service dog in a store or other public building, some people would confuse him with a Dalmation, a child once thought he was a cow, and countless people remarked that he was "the most beautiful dog I've ever seen." Some people would want to take his photograph, even without asking. In 2013, Splash was diagnosed with an unusual benign nasal tumor that was eventually removed surgically by a skilled veterinarian team at the Auburn University Veterinary School. The surgery left Splash with a black scar running from his nose toward one eye, but because of the black and white pattern of his coat, it was not really noticeable and he still received almost daily compliments on his looks. Splash passed through the years with us, always happy, and friendly to everyone and everything -- even cats and a late-night back yard meeting with a possum. In 2016, he befriended the Miniature Schauzer named Oscar that we adopted from a rescue group and put up patiently with all of Oscar's pesky attempts to be the boss of the house. However, in 2016, Splash began to show signs of arthritis that slowed him down and made his service work less frequent, especially when the arthritis worsened the following year despite medication. Although we took him for vet visits every few months to check his health, in mid-July, 2017, while having him at the vet for another issue, we learned his lymph nodes were swollen. Testing showed that although he was showing no signs of being sick, Splash had developed lymphoma that was already at Stage IV. Because he was about 10 years old, had exceeded the normal life span of a Great Dane, and was suffering from advanced arthritis that required daily pain medication, we decided to forego putting Splash through chemotherapy. We tried treating him holistically, a cancer diet and an advanced supplement protocol, but the lymphoma was too far advanced. Splash did fine for two weeks, enjoying meals with fresh chicken and salmon, but then he began to show signs of struggling in his daily activity. We knew then that keeping him with us any longer, simply because we could not bear to part, would not be doing what was best for him. And we always wanted to do our best for Splash because he earned that every day with the love he gave to us through his faithfulness and strength. His friends at the Nall Daniels Animal Hospital, where he was a favorite, helped us lead Splash over the Rainbow Bridge to where he would be freed from his arthritis pain and cancer. So, to all who knew Splash, or knew of him, remember him as a friend, that he had a good long life of being loved from the day we met him at about age two until about ten years of age, and that there will never be another Great Dane quite like him. As we heard many, many times over the years, he was the most beautiful dog you'd ever see. But to us he was the very sweetest.